


In The Limelight

by burntflower



Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alastor is Bad at Feelings (Hazbin Hotel), Alternate Universe - 1930s, Alternate Universe - Human, Developing Relationship, Eventual Smut, F/M, Falling In Love, Multi, Obsessive Behavior, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Stalking, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:41:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24762526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/burntflower/pseuds/burntflower
Summary: During the 1930s, a young woman takes the Saenger Theatre by the horns and makes a name for herself in Louisanna. Little did she know, her voice would attract the demented attention of New Orlean's most infamous serial killer.
Relationships: Alastor/Charlie Magne
Comments: 4
Kudos: 51





	In The Limelight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm definitely not the best writer so I hope you understand there will be grammatical mistakes, misspellings, etc. that go right over my head, especially after rereading the same stuff over and over. I try my diddly darn hardest to reread everything when I have a fresh pair of eyes to strain. ENOUGH ABOUT ME. 
> 
> Triggers (I can think of right now at 1 am):  
> Blood mentioned (minor detail)  
> Murder(s) mentioned (minor detail)  
> Minor sadistic thoughts mentioned.  
> IDK WHAT ELSE  
> It's all triggering content  
> YOU KNOW WHAT YOU CAME HERE FOR.

Springtime was anything, but boring for Charlie; it was her time to shine and cut the stage with her charismatic presence. Rising into popularity in Saenger Theatre and the community of New Orleans, she loved the rush of a sold-out night. Tensions were painfully high; word backstage was that an acclaimed radio host was in the audience watching the show and she was beyond ecstatic. Performing in front of someone so well-known in Louisiana was something she felt a little proud of. It was unreal and worth calling her mom about, especially, if she was to meet him. A part of her intuited that her mother would know more about him or gush over him being there in comparison to herself. 

An approximating suspicion developed, painfully aware she was taking another step in her career and was hoping to make a good impression to establish the right connections. Alas, she knew he was not here for work. To be fair, she has never heard him discuss theater topics during his segment, at least, none to her knowledge for the few times she listened. It wasn’t as big of a deal to her as it was to everyone else. Charlie sought after going beyond performing in Louisiana; the young woman desperately yearned for an opportunity to sing on Broadway. However, since he _was_ the big enchilada in Louisiana, this was a pivotal stage of advancement for her career-wise. Goodness, she could not even remember his name… _Alex? Arthur? No… too dorky..._ but that wasn’t important right now.

Sitting in her station in front of the mirror, she fiddled with her soft platinum curls, gently moving each one into place as someone came around to powder her cheeks and another sprayed her hair delicately. In costume, she did some vocal techniques to prepare her voice to dazzle the crowd for the final song of the first act. 

Never in a million years, Charlie thought she would be able to live out her musical dreams no matter how small it may be. Granted, she always wanted to give back to the community and help those others turned away, but for now, she has her whole life ahead of her to practice her philanthropy. Sadly, she knew many people before her, specifically, women in theater, who lived short careers so the blonde thought she might as well enjoy it. Blissfully being as naturally talented as she was, her youthfulness and vibrancy was a cherry on top.

Observing the reflection looking back at her in the mirror critically, she sighed at her paleness. Whoever did her makeup, did not add enough of rouge to bring back the color to her naturally rosy cheeks. Her pale skin was one of her major insecurities, but it was a feature she was still learning to accept about herself. Quickly, Charlie picked up the compact and used a little powderpuff to apply the creamy pink shade on the high points of her cheeks and a little more under her eyes, giving her this precious, effortless blush. Her mind embarked on an array of thoughts she was trying to bury down simply so she could focus on tonight’s event. 

_Harold_. 

Using a translucent powder to set her rouge in place, a heavy feeling weighed down on her chest. _Stop thinking about him._ She recited in verbatim in her head until deep down she knew she could no longer fight the urge of her emotions overflowing inside. _I wish he was here. He’s such a workaholic._ After a year of going out on **only** five phenomenal dates, him never calling her back unless _he_ was available and interested, and Charlie thinking he was worth the wait. 

Harold was a man of stature and influence; his family had a wealthy estate and status. His father founded and established a widely used insurance company and created trusts to avoid any competition; his father’s father owned an oil refinery. Imagining how Harold must feel to walk in these successful men’s shadows, she knew it must be difficult, which is why she always forgave him for his absence. The Von Eldritch family name was known amongst Louisiana as elitists, especially with her knowledge regarding their private membership to one of the most prestigious country clubs in the country. 

Nonetheless, she pestered him with phone calls until he answered so she could invite him to come to see her perform, to which he coldly replied with a ‘let us see’. After enough of inner conflict, the blonde told herself, _if he’s not here at any point during the show, it’s over_. She was only twenty-two after all, and as much as she understood his unavailability, she needed to think about herself.

“My, my, my... you look like a doll, Charlotte! ” An older lady gingerly cupped her round cheeks into her hands, causing the blonde to be ripped out of her thoughts and turn redder than a tomato. 

“She does!” A shorter woman leaped towards them.

“OH STOP!” Charlie could only manage to giggle, playfully pushing the other’s hands away. The older ladies were laughing and teasing her about the radio host in the crowd being absolutely handsome and immediately after, the blonde lost interest in their playful jabs to adjust her collar in the mirror.

“Ladies! I’m not paying you to fart around!” The director yelled at the older women, but frantically, retracted his statement when they looked at him with annoyed expressions. “I’m sorry! I’m stressed sweethearts. This is the premier of a new musical and everything must be on point. Ya’ know we don’t get opportunities like this that often. Jumbo was a hit on Broadway!”

“I’ll forgive you as long as you buy us all a drink at the after-party.” One of the women teased. 

“Yeah!” The other chimed in, giggling like a maniac. 

“Promise! Just make sure she looks immaculate, ladies! This number is vital!” Charlie took a tissue and pressed her lips against it to soften the shade of red adorning her radiate smile. Making sure there wasn’t any lipstick on her teeth, she shook out her nerves, “be ready in five minutes, Charlotte.” 

“Do you think he’ll come to the after-party?” One of the younger ladies emerged from the crowd of stage workers, actors, and extras to join the other women. 

“I wish! What’s a man like him single?”

“Who knows? Maybe he gets along with many women.” Another gal hopped right on in too, holding her clipboard against her chest and swayed back and forth. “Can you blame the guy? He’s got looks that could kill!” Charlotte rolled her eyes; the topic was beginning to get on her very last nerve, especially since she was coming to terms with her heartbreak.

“C’mon Charlotte! Don’t be like that.” One of the dames noticed the blonde’s irritation and cooed at her while softly fixing a strand of blonde hair sticking up, “if you saw him for yourself, you’d be squealing too!” 

“Oh! LEAVE HER ALONE! She’s too young to understand.” An actress on the side poked fun at her, which caused the small group to giggle.

“Ladies~. Charlotte hasn’t been in Louisiana long enough to understand our giddy behavior.” Turning from the crowd, she powdered her face one more time, “honey, some of us grew up with Alastor or listened to him since he started being on the radio. Imagine? It’s been a decade of hearing his charming voice and most of us have never seen him. There’s something so mysterious and… SEXY about him!” The crowd of women bursted into laughter, pushing her around by the way she growled the word ‘sexy’ so inappropriately. The indecency gave the director a short fuse and _god_ , he wanted to fire them all on the spot. Alas, he had to admit that no others could replace them with their remarkable talents to make anything happen and work astonishingly under high stress and surprisingly so well together. However, he wished no one told the women in the back about Alastor’s presence.

A bright pink blush dusted Charlie’s cheeks and a little smile began to form from ear to ear, “you didn’t need to spit on my face.” She chuckled at the audacity of these women. _Maybe they had a good reason to be acting like a bunch of schoolgirls over this mysterious radioman_.

She pulled away from the others for her final moments to prepare. The first act was almost over and she still hasn’t seen her friend, Vaggie in the crowd yet. She gave herself a little pep talk. _Tonight is a big deal! You can do this! KNOCK THEIR SOCKS OFF!_ She thought to herself as she checked her smile one more time; her appearance made her chest flutter. Charlie looked like an actual doll, wearing a taupe midi, a-line dress, which complimented her pale, blue eyes. “Woooow…” she quietly said to herself.

“You’re on now!” The director waved his arms for Charlie to get on stage.

The bounce in her step said ‘I got this’, hurrying to enter a dark stage and taking a sharp inhale as the music began to play. The lights gently revealed her silhouette as she started to sing and her heart was dancing in her chest. Charlie looked out into the crowd. It was a rush. 

_Sit there and count your fingers_

_What can you do?_

_Old girl, you're through_

_Sit there, count your little fingers_

_Unhappy little girl blue_

Making her way closer to the center of the stage, her appearance was made yet again, but this time there was something so angelic about her. The stage set was designed to look like a section inside of a circus; as the song progressed, she sat at the edge of the circus ring prop with dim lighting creating a soft, radiant aura around her person. Charlie was in the front center of the stage; the graceful dame invoked her voice to cry her heart out. Here was her opportunity to release these burdening emotions. It was a healthy outlet to allow tears to form and roll from her frostbitten eyes and certainly, it was a wash of ease cleansing her anxieties and insecurities. Charlie brilliantly portrayed the sentiments she was demanded to provoke out of her for the scene. Her voice sang the lyrics to Little Girl Blue so eloquently and silverly. Whether she realized it or not, her dulcet vocals boldly manipulated the entire theatre. All eyes were on her and her alone. Finally, Vaggie was spotted in the audience and both made a generous amount of eye contact. An enormous smile formed across the other’s face, watching the blonde take the lead. All she wanted to do was make the ones she knew most proud of her. Suddenly, she stood and it was the biggest line she needed to nail in the song. 

_No use old girl_

_You might as well surrender_

_'Cause your hopes are getting slender and slender_

_Why won't somebody send a tender blue boy_

_To cheer up little girl blue_

Walking off the stage in dismay, her fellow actresses, actors, and colleagues eagerly waited where they would initially meet her behind the curtains. The moment she entered backstage, they praised her for her touching and brilliant performance. The director was so proud, he hugged Charlie and quickly pushed her to the arms of the ladies who were there to help her get ready, “change! Change! Change!” All of the women ran with the air filled with laughter and compliments.

“Charlotte, you were amazing!!” A female helped pull the dress off of her, and was jumping with glee, “good golly! This is why I love working backstage. There is always a method to the madness!”

“Did you see him?” The group of women formed around her and they laughed at her question, knowing full well, Charlie had no idea what he looked like or what distinguishing features to look for. “Oh hush! Did you see a fellow with a top hat and glasses?!” 

Distracted by the next scene coming up, Charlie shook her head in response, noticing her chain with a dainty apple pendant isn’t around her neck, “no. no. no.” Frantically, the actress was scanning the vanity and picked up makeup compacts and various other items to try and find it. Eventually, she checked underneath and all around the floor, at least, whatever ground she could see.

“What’s wrong Charlotte?” 

“I can’t find my necklace. I don’t have time to look for it! It has a little apple pendant on it!” She threw a scarf on the floor feeling utterly defeated; her mother gave her that necklace as a gift after a successful first performance. It was good luck for her.

“Relax, dear. We’ll keep an eye out and you focus on tonight.” A woman grabbed Charlie to get her eye contact and give her reassurance. Hesitant to continue going on, she could only manage to reluctantly nod her head. “Now, sit down. I need to touch up your makeup.”

* * *

A tall, slender man entered the theatre; he was a dashing sight to behold to anyone who rested eyes upon him. Intricately dressed in a black suit and top hat, a red handkerchief embellished the right side of his chest. Before proceeding any further, the snazzy gentleman removed his glasses and gingerly rubbed the lenses with his handkerchief, eagerly placing them back on so his honey eyes could have a clearer view. His short, brown hair was slicked back with a single strand out of place and a smile garnished his face. A bit overdressed, but that’s how Alastor rolled: over the top and refined. After showing his ticket and taking his seat, he noticed how the ushers were silently fanboying over him after recognizing his voice when sharing a couple of jokes in conversation, but they respected his desire for discretion during this time outside of his work. 

The theatre was decent, certainly, he’s seen better. Nonetheless, he had a love for the arts and performances; a colleague who traveled to see family in New York strongly recommended seeing the musical, Jumbo. Since Alastor was not interested in traveling to New York just to see it, he was quite pleased that he did not have to miss experiencing the show due to inconvenience. It was not the original cast, albeit, he heard word around town that some of these singers can and will knock you off your rocker. It’s been a questionable amount of time since he’s been here to see a production. Groaning to himself as he opened the playbill, he remembered why he did not come back.

Mimzy was a singer, but not what he personally considered a singer for musicals. The embarrassing events replayed in his head when she got the lead after schmoozing the producer and director with her charm. She begged him for a whole month to see _her_ show, even after he told her she will make a mess of the performance and refused to support it, he agreed to see the musical she was going to be starring in. Most of the underground club patrons and workers of Rosie’s Bar and Grill went to see her shine and were so happy for her. Everyone, but Alastor thought she was going to be a riot.

It was a fiasco. It was obvious she could not take direction well, however, he must admit he was wrong to think her voice wasn’t for musicals; she sounded divine as always. It was a trainwreck and he saw it on her face when she began improvising her lines on the spot and it simply infuriated him. She had all this time to practice, but her confidence hid all the slip-ups Mimzy made. He did not want to think about how or what she did to get away with what she did because both the producer and director invited her to come back and be the lead of another theatrical performance. Since then, he refused to step into an establishment that utterly tattered the beauty and respect of theatre, more importantly, making a mockery of the discipline that comes with it. 

Whatever happened?

After her second performance, out of nowhere, the producer and director were found in a ditch on the outskirts of town with their throats slit. Easily, Alastor could presume a transaction occurred to lead her to go right for their jugulars and to march right on down to the underground speakeasy from Rosie’s establishment, stating, ‘I will never perform in musicals again! They’re a crock!’ She made many snicker, knowing full well she was better off as a club singer.

There was a sense of relief and a weight lifted off his shoulders, knowing there was a new director with higher standards running the theatre productions. He licked his index finger and snapped back into the present time to skip over the names of the performers and to the next page of the playbill. 

The musical opened and he was full of childlike wonder, scanning each scene and how it was done up so nicely, listening to singing, and simply admiring the effort put into the show. The raw emotion was neatly displayed. When the first act was almost over he looked at his watch; the man forgot how time flew by when he would watch a showing.

It suddenly became dark. The lighting was different from what he remembered and that, in itself, caught his full attention. He did not understand the whole setup when the music began to play. Was it a technical difficulty as they call it? Slowly, a thin, feminine silhouette was seen and there… _right there_ , she was. He didn’t pay any mind to her before, granted she could sing phenomenally. _This_ was heavenly. Alastor had the perfect seat in the house to see her disgustingly, innocent blue eyes. They were so vivid and enchanting. She was a depiction of an ethereal beauty- porcelain skin, rosy cheeks, delicate curls framing her face just right, and _those_ intoxicatingly pale, blue **_eyes_**.

Alastor was on the edge of his seat when he watched her completely control the atmosphere of the entire theatre; the pure talent she had. Out of admiration, he thought about using his charms on her into being his little plaything to keep him entertained and what better than a belle with a voice as heavenly as hers? Momentarily, he was lost in a trance, questioning if she was as divine and charming as she was on the stage. The curiosity was overwhelming his core with a brief touch of anxiety. _If she’s a bore, I’ll just kill her._ With that, he cut back into reality, setting his mark on her as his prey. As she was eventually fully adorned in soft, neutral lighting, he could envision her drenched in her blood, crying and begging him to stop. But… if he did that, who could replace her angelic presence on stage? No one. Absolutely, no one. 

_Why won't somebody send a tender blue boy_

_To cheer up little girl blue_

_Blue_ … he pondered. He went back to the playbill to see the cast once she was out of his sight and off stage. “ _Aaaaa_ … Charlotte Magne, “ a silky whisper was released from his lips, curling into a sinister smile.

For the remainder of the production, he could not get enough of her: her mannerisms, her innocence as she acted, but the feelings she displayed were raw and powerful. _Who was she? Where did she come from? Are you even real Charlotte or a figment of my imagination?_ The musical was disappointingly nearing the end and it annoyed him. The older man wanted to see more of her, but he desired for their meeting to be more natural and if he used his name to go backstage and put her on the spot, he knew he would not get the outcome he desired. Considering his options, as patient of man he truly was, he didn’t know if he could risk it. What if she wasn’t a regular performer here? He _needed_ to make a move and definitely, Alastor _must_ be intricately tactful with it. Despite everything, fate has a way of bringing strong forces together as one of the ushers handed him a note, inviting him to the afterparty.


End file.
